Protective foot covering and dance shoes incorporating same

Abstract

A protective foot cover for use in dance, exercise, or athletic applications using strategically placed thicker protective pieces in ball and toe areas of the foot in connection with an elastic material in the sole structure to allow the foot to move freely and provide less of a barrier between the foot and floor such that a dancer can better sense the floor upon which they dance. The foot cover incorporates strategically placed protective patches that provide support, protection, and comfort to the ball and toe portions of the foot. The patches are spaced from one another so that the footwear is able to move more naturally with the expansion of the foot as pressure is applied to the foot. The foot cover may be used alone, whereby the toe and heel portions of the foot are exposed, or in combination with a dance shoe providing a stretchable sole running from the arch portion to the toe portion of the foot.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A protective sleeve for a forward portion of a foot comprising:
 a sleeve formed of elastic fabric, said sleeve having a leading end containing at least one toe opening arranged in a region where the toes are connected with the foot and a trailing end containing a foot opening arranged in a mid-region of the foot; 
 first and second protective pads attached to said sleeve adjacent to said foot opening, said pads being arranged laterally relative to an axis of said sleeve to cover at least a portion of a ball of the foot; 
 at least one strip of material extending between opposing edges of said first and second protective pads; 
 said elastic fabric of said sleeve extending at least partially between said first and second protective pads, wherein said elastic fabric is adapted to stretch between said first and second protective pads so that said pads continue to cover the ball of the foot during movement of the foot. 
 
     
     
       2. A foot covering as defined in  claim 1 , wherein said material strip comprises fabric or leather and has a first end attached to said first protective pad and a second end attached to said second protective pad. 
     
     
       3. A foot covering as defined in  claim 1 , wherein at least one of said protective pads has a first region and a second region having a tackier surface than the first region. 
     
     
       4. A foot covering as defined in  claim 3 , wherein said first region comprises a material selected from the group consisting of leather and suede and said second region comprises rubber. 
     
     
       5. A foot covering as defined in  claim 1 , wherein said elastic fabric comprises a material selected from the group consisting of lycra, lycra mesh, cotton, cotton lycra mesh, paper lycra, leather, leather with lycra, nylon, nylon mesh, and neoprene. 
     
     
       6. A foot covering as defined in  claim 1 , and further comprising an elastic band attached to the trailing end of said elastic fabric for holding said foot covering on a foot. 
     
     
       7. A dance shoe comprising:
 a shoe upper; 
 a sole attached to said shoe upper, said sole including a ball region extending between an arch of said dance shoe and a toe of said dance shoe, said ball region adapted to cover a ball of a foot; 
 said ball region of said sole comprising an elastic fabric and first and second protective pads attached to said elastic fabric, said pads being arranged laterally relative to an axis of said sole; 
 said elastic fabric extends at least partially between said first and second protective pads, wherein said elastic fabric is adapted to stretch between said first and second protective pads so that said pads continue to cover the ball of the foot during movement of the foot. 
 
     
     
       8. A dance shoe as defined in  claim 7 , and further comprising a third protective pad attached to said elastic fabric and adapted to cover a toe of said foot. 
     
     
       9. A dance shoe as defined in  claim 8 , and further comprising a fourth protective pad attached to said elastic fabric and adapted to cover a second toe of said foot. 
     
     
       10. A dance shoe as defined in  claim 7 , and further comprising at least one strip of material extending between said first and second protective pads. 
     
     
       11. A dance shoe as defined in  claim 7 , wherein at least one of said protective pads has a first region and a second region having a tackier surface than said first region. 
     
     
       12. A dance shoe as defined in  claim 11 , wherein said first region comprises a material selected from the group consisting of leather and suede and said second region comprises rubber. 
     
     
       13. A dance shoe as defined in  claim 11 , wherein said elastic fabric comprises a material selected from the group consisting of lycra, lycra mesh, cotton, cotton lycra mesh, paper lycra, leather, leather with lycra, nylon, nylon mesh, and neoprene.